Last Friday, Distant Worlds returned to the Royal Albert Hall. This time, however, the show differed from previous incarnations; it’s 2012, and that means it’s Final Fantasy’s 25th anniversary. That’s a milestone worth celebrating for both Square-Enix and its massive legion of fans, and with that in mind, Friday’s set-list was indeed a celebration of the series’ history.

The show kicked off with the iconic ‘Prelude’, before a few spotlights pointed out that we in the audience were in illustrious company – in attendance were composers Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu, along with father of Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi was here, in the same room as us! That certainly got the crowd in the right mood.

Next up was ‘Medley 2002’, a collection of pieces of music drawn from the first three Final Fantasies, and afterward Arnie Roth, occupying the conductor’s rostrum as always, set expectations for the night; being a celebration of the series’ history, we would be treated to a chronological trip through Final Fantasy music, and next up was Final Fantasy IV’s ‘Battle with the Four Fiends’. Maestro Roth told us we’d be hearing a mixture of Distant Worlds favourites, new arrangements and pieces of music that hadn’t been played before.

With that, we got to hear the first live renditions of the ‘Main Theme of Final Fantasy V’ and from Final Fantasy VI, ‘The Phantom Forest’, before Roth attempted to recruit the audience into the choir for Final Fantasy VII’s ‘One Winged Angel’. Unfortunately, the majority were terribly British about it all and remained quiet throughout, but that didn’t prevent the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the London Voices choir from a rousing performance of Sephiroth’s signature piece.

Final Fantasy VIII’s battle theme, ‘Don’t be Afraid’ came next, and was followed by ‘You’re Not Alone’ from Final Fantasy IX. Then came one of my favourite pieces of Final Fantasy music, ‘To Zanarkand’ from Final Fantasy X. All of these performances were accompanied by cutscenes and video excerpts from the games on a huge screen above the choir, and X’s was particularly beautiful, ending with the iconic scene of Yuna performing the sending at Kilika.

One song remained before the intermission, and we were treated to a new rendition of the Chocobo theme, and this one was even more upbeat than usual, with the screen showing a medley of Chocobo footage, including Dajh’s chick popping out of Sazh’s afro as the choir chanted “Hey!”, before they called out the letters spelling out ‘chocobo’. It was a very entertaining way to lead into the intermission, and the crowd responded with plenty of laughs.

Once we’d returned to our seats, it was back to our chronological musical journey through Final Fantasy, and next up was ‘Vana’diel March’ from the series’ first foray into the MMO space. If anything, I felt this song dragged a little, but then I never played Final Fantasy XI, so I don’t have any emotional attachment to the game’s music. That said, it was still an enjoyable performance, and the next piece, Final Fantasy XII’s ‘Dalmasca Estersand’, was a wonderfully intricate, layered composition beautifully delivered.

Rounding out the retrospective were Final Fantasy XIII’s battle theme, ‘Blinded by Light’, and an absolutely stunning rendition of the signature track from Square’s second MMO entry, Final Fantasy XIV. Titled ‘Answers’, the song’s main vocal was performed by Susan Calloway (who should be no stranger to fans of Final Fantasy music), who absolutely blew the attending audience away with her powerful voice.

With our whistle-stop tour of Final Fantasy past and present complete, we were into the portion of the show that remained shrouded in mystery. We’d been promised some heavy hitters, something new, and another special guest or two, and the first piece we were treated to was Final Fantasy IV’s gorgeous ‘Theme of Love’. This was a real treat for me, a massive fan of FFIV, and it was a beautiful rendition that kicked off a more emotionally-led tangent of the show. Following in that vein, next on the agenda was a trip back to Final Fantasy VIII, as we got to experience an excellent performance of ‘Eyes on Me’, sung by Japanese recording artist Crystal Kay, and her vocals, along with the scenes of Rinoa and Squall on the big screen, really got emotions bubbling under.

What really got them soaring, however, was the utterly incredible ‘Opera – Mario & Draco’. This was a new version, with an extended battle scene embedded in the middle, composed by Uematsu specially for the ‘Celebration’ tour. We again had some guests on stage – three solo vocalists taking the parts of Maria, Draco and Prince Ralse, and a narrator to relate the story to the audience. The latter was a little underused, but was still a nice addition to help along those that might not have played Final Fantasy VI. The Opera must have run for at least fifteen minutes, but I was completely transfixed; it was easily my highlight of the entire show. It was an incredibly powerful performance that threatened to leave me breathless.

We had one final piece of music to go, and this one signalled a step up into more upbeat territory. It was another medley, and another fresh one at that; a brand-new battle medley, consisting of FFV’s ‘Battle at the Big Bridge’, FFX’s ‘Fight with Seymour’ and FFVII’s ‘Those Who Fight’. It was an excellently put-together medley, though I’d have liked to have heard each one in full as they’re all among my favourite battle themes. Having said that, at least we got an orchestrated version of ‘Those Who Fight’ (however short), rather than the bizarre jazz-piano style version featured on the Returning Home DVD.

With that, the performers exited the stage, leaving the audience to nervously await their return. Surely there’d be an encore, right? We hadn’t had ‘Aeris’ Theme’, nor Terra’s. Maybe we’d get to hear the ‘Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII’ or Liberi Fatali? Well, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the London Voices and Arnie Roth did indeed re-take the stage, with Roth telling us that they just couldn’t leave without playing one final piece of music, one song that was absolutely vital in the history of the jRPG series. The audience held its collective breath; surely he meant ‘Aeris’ Theme’..?

And so, as the orchestra launched into the warm tones of the ‘Main Theme of Final Fantasy’, the groans were audible (seriously – you can hear it in my video). They quickly gave way to applause as we all immediately got over the (admittedly mild) disappointment to enjoy the piece of music that started it all, and in retrospect, it was the perfect way to end a night celebrating 25 years of excellent music. At the end, all the performers that had taken the stage throughout the evening were joined by Uematsu and Hamauzu and were all given a much-deserved standing ovation from the five-thousand or so Final Fantasy diehards in attendance.

With that, we were thrust back into the cold London night, contemplating one thing: will they be back next year? I can only say this – if they will, I will.

Great review! I would’ve liked more music from the more popular games in the series and the more emotive pieces such as Terras theme, Fishermans Horizon, Love Grows, Revealed Truth and the one that plays through the Zanarkand ruins (Someday the dream will end?). I also like some of the less popular ones like Roses and Wine, The Oath, the landing, Wandering Flame and Forever Rachel to name some. I would’ve obviously liked Suteki Da Ne and I was a little bit gutted they didnt do Aeris’ theme.

Yeah, it was mildly disappointing, but it’s easy to focus on what they did play rather than what they didn’t. Still, I’ll agree with ‘Some Day the Dream will end’, that would’ve been excellent. I’d also have liked ‘Anxious Heart’ from VII, I love that dream-like feel it has. Also, Rose of May would have been amazing, but may have left me welling up!

really gr8 write up here!! to a lot of the people i have tried to share my excitment with about this show, who are not fans of final fantasy’s i have sounded crazy but to those who are fans they understand me, so i will say this one more time! ….. it really was a life changing night for me! being such a breath taking performance from every one, final fantasy’s was the first ever games that really made me a gamer many years ago, so i have been a fan for many years and to experience what i did on friday was really something i find it hard to desribe!!! alll i been thinking about since this is when will they be back because i am all ready to go 😛 i loved how pure every thing sounded on the night you would notice things in the songs that maybe you would not notice when playing the games or listening to them in what ever method you choose! i think for me the highlight was the opera as well! it really did leave me speechless! i will admit there was a number of songs i would of loved to of heard but only because i have so many fav songs 😀 there was some i thought that was going to be played without Q like aries theme! but even with that in mind and i didnt hear them live it took nothing away from the night!!! 😀

Ooh, that’s one thing I didn’t touch on in my write-up – the sound was absolutely crystal clear in the Hall, you could hear every instrument with perfect clarity – though there were a few times the strings were a little buried by the brass section. I’m sure people can get some semblance of the clarity of sound from my videos – I’m amazed they came out as well as they did!

You’re not crazy, you’re just a massive Final Fantasy fan that got to witness an amazing event last Friday. Just like me 🙂

Having been to the previous Distant Worlds (2011), I have to admit this was a bit of a let down. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a great concert, but the line up and pacing was a bit lacking I think.

I was sorely disappointed by the lack of Liberi Fatali, and the repeated most of the same line up as the previous year – I don’t blame them as I understand the need to play the more popular ones – but as one previous commenter mentioned, it would have been such a treat to listen Rose of May or Someday the dream will end. That, and the 2 previous iterations of Eyes on Me (2011 – Susan Callowy, 2012 – Crystal Kay) were disappointing, I felt their interpretation lacked the tenderness and sadness inherent in the original song by Faye Wong.

Another gripe I had was the structuring of the songs. 20 Distant World started off with one of the darkest, most exciting songs in the entire Final Fantasy repertoire – Liberi Fatali. Brilliant way of kicking off the night and setting the mood for the concert, and the final encore – One Winged Angel . This years One Winged Angel was etremely misplced – in the middle of the concert – and lacked the emotional oomph that usually comes from the song.

Granted, the new song from FF14 – Answers sung by Susan Calloway brought shivers down my spine. Still, it was a great night out – my 30 quid was totally justified.

I would’ve loved to hear ‘Liberia Fatali’, and I do admit to being a bit disappointed at the lack of some established standards, but seeing as this was my first ever Distant Worlds, they were only minor gripes for me. I can absolutely understand your disappointment though, and I do agree the pacing was a little uneven. I suppose that’s a risk when you’re doing a series- long retrospective, rather than being able to position songs wherever you want them.

I was determined to get tickets this year – I found out about last year’s concert a day or two after tickets went on sale and they were already gone. So this year, I made sure I had the page loaded up about half an hour before they went on sale! It was an amazing evening – I hope you enjoyed my videos at least!

[…] overworld theme from the first Final Fantasy game, as well as Sunleth Waterscape from XIII. As a huge fan of Final Fantasy music this is something that will make me very happy indeed, and I can imagine driving around the world […]

[…] overworld theme from the first Final Fantasy game, as well as Sunleth Waterscape from XIII. As a huge fan of Final Fantasy music this is something that will make me very happy indeed, and I can imagine driving around the world […]